Universally hailed at one time as the answer to India's long search for a genuine Test opener, Shiv Sunder Das finds himself in a struggle to salvage a floundering career after making a promising debut against Zimbabwe. Only the second player from lowly Orissa to make it to the Indian Test team, Das does most things right as an opener: he has an immaculate judgment of his off stump, his feet movements are precise, and he keeps a still head in both defence and attack. But though he was India's first-choice opener for a while, he disappointed his backers by failing to convert numerous good starts. He is yet to score a century against a strong attack - both his hundreds have come against Zimbabwe at Nagpur, and he was a forlorn figure during India¹s tour of West Indies in 2002, where he was repeatedly found stuck on the back foot, unable to judge the length against the tall West Indian fast bowlers. On India A's tour of England, as captain for the first-class matches, Das did nothing special; he averaged 43, but seven batsmen averaged more. Das' effort to re-establish himself had little effect on the selectors, though he did hit his maiden triple hundred in 2006-07, the first since the 2000-01 Ranji season, against Jammu & Kashmir. The Orissa Cricket Association declared a cash prize of Rs 30,000 for the hero of the day. In 2010-11, he was not only stripped of his captaincy but was also dropped from the Orissa team after scoring just five runs from five innings.
Sambit Bal November 2007